On Friday, December 5 and Saturday, December 6, Prairie Ridge held an annual event that included three shows filled with singing, acting, and full-on interaction. Students, parents, and other members of the community could purchase a ticket for a four-course meal complete with a full show of entertainment. There was only one twist – you couldn’t use silverware.

The show, run by Mr. Jensen, was set in the Medieval Times, where lords, ladies, kings and queens ruled and lived in large manors, enjoying exquisite meals and excessive clothing. Everyone else was below them, unless they were royalty or soldiers. This exciting event was the Madrigal Dinner.

This production was not easy to produce. Everyone had to prepare months in advance and leading up to the show spent endless hours in dress rehearsal. There was many components to the show which made it challenging, but all the more exciting. With actors, a capella singers, servers, and quartets of various instruments, the show was complicated but a huge success.

The madrigal actors portrayed the high class people of the day. The king, played by Michael Morones, was having a banquet for all of his royal subjects and their guests. Elaine Bieschke, played his queen, and their two children sat beside him. The prince, Austin Comstock, constantly tried to intervene on his sister’s love affairs. She was played by Rachel Johnson. All this came along with frequent visits from knights, jesters, heralds, and cooks.

The Madrigals themselves sang song after song after song to please the King, doing it all a capella and in extreme costumes. They sat in front of the King’s table, where all of the guests could see them under the stage lights.

“I love how we all sing together and make beautiful music, and then get together and cry,” said senior Hailey Veath when asked what her favorite part was. Another madrigal singer, Rami Halabi, said that his favorite part was “All of the tradition” involved in the annual show, and how it was always a “fun, happy, lighthearted time.”

The court singers played the servers of the royal kingdom. They sang songs, greeted the guests and served the food, all in a British accent making the whole show more realistic and entertaining. For many Court Singers, it was their first year involved with this production, and many had an experience of a lifetime.

“It was a great experience to act as someone from a different time period,” explained Sanjana Nath, a new court singer this year. Her fellow court singers agreed that “it was enjoyable performing music from an earlier and completely different era,” and that  “it was a great opportunity to experience music in a new way.”

The show wouldn’t be complete without the madrigal brass and recorders. These groups of musicians helped set the mood by playing both Christmas carols and baroque style music, the style played back in the 1500s.

Overall the dinner was a massive success. People of all kinds were brought together to enjoy an evening of entertainment, food, laughter, and fun.